Slack's Keyboard Navigational Helper

2018 Apr 17

2018 Apr 17

UI

Lucas Roe

Accessibility

What it is: When tabbing through interface elements in Slack, a popup window shows up at the end of the keyboard cycle, showing you other options.

Why it’s good: Thinking about how users will navigate through an interface with a keyboard is a bare first step to allowing accessibility. It’s used by all sorts of people, from keyboard dominant users to dexterity impaired users, and is a fundamental navigational tenet for those using screen readers or voice control software.

In this example, Slack pops this up after you’ve already cycled through much of the interface, giving you a peek as to what options are available to you as a poweruser. Crucially, this interface disappears quickly if it’s not what you’re looking for, so it doesn’t impair users who aren’t looking for it and gets out of the way quickly if you already know that it’s there.

What it is: When tabbing through interface elements in Slack, a popup window shows up at the end of the keyboard cycle, showing you other options.

Why it’s good: Thinking about how users will navigate through an interface with a keyboard is a bare first step to allowing accessibility. It’s used by all sorts of people, from keyboard dominant users to dexterity impaired users, and is a fundamental navigational tenet for those using screen readers or voice control software.

In this example, Slack pops this up after you’ve already cycled through much of the interface, giving you a peek as to what options are available to you as a poweruser. Crucially, this interface disappears quickly if it’s not what you’re looking for, so it doesn’t impair users who aren’t looking for it and gets out of the way quickly if you already know that it’s there.